Should Believers Observe Hanukkah? By Larry and June Acheson First Printing: January 4, 2004 Updated January 19, 2021 Should Believers Observe Hanukkah? Table of Contents Amended Introduction ………………………………………………………………………...... 4 Appended Introduction: “Alternate Festival” Versus “Substitute Festival” ……………………. 6 1. What’s Wrong With Christmas? ……………………………………………………...………… 9 2. What is Hanukkah? ……………………………………………………...……………………… 12 3. Why Observe Hanukkah? ……………………………………………………...……………….. 14 4. Objections to the Observance of Hanukkah …………………………………………………….. 19 5. Other Objections ………………………………………………………………………………… 26 6. Conclusion and How We Observe Hanukkah …………………………………….……………... 37 Should Believers Observe Hanukkah? By Larry and June Acheson Amended Introduction he month of December is a challenging month for those who choose to conform to Yahweh’s laws. Those of us who understand the heathen origin of Christmas reject its observance, but often we are T faced with tolerating the customary greetings of “Merry Christmas” from those who don’t know us very well, not to mention the office party invitations that we do not accept. Choosing to not observe Christmas can be particularly awkward if you’re dealing with business associates or customers who observe it. When approached by a well-meaning individual with whom you know you’ll only engage in a fleeting conversation, and that person wishes you a Merry Christmas, it can be downright awkward explaining to that individual why you don’t observe Christmas, especially when there’s a 99% likelihood that he or she isn’t the least interested in listening to your explanations! There is an alternate festival that falls during the “Christmas season,” and if one chooses to observe it for the proper reasons, it offers blessings that far exceed anything we could ever have expected to receive while observing Christmas. This festival is called Hanukkah, and we have found that the rich and meaningful history of this observance can actually have a profound, spiritual healing effect on those who observe it, ourselves included. We delve into this aspect of Hanukkah in this study; however, that is not why we chose to put this study together. When I composed this study in 2004, I thought countering “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Hanukkah” served as a neat way of opening the door to an in-depth discussion about why we do not celebrate or recognize Christmas. Since both Christmas and Hanukkah occur during the same season, I thought this would be an effective means of politely sharing our faith while simultaneously giving the other person a glimpse of the pagan origin of Christmas (and who in his or her right mind would want to celebrate a holiday with pagan roots?). It turns out my idea wasn’t the best way to go on at least three levels. First, I eventually found that this approach doesn’t actually work insofar as piquing anyone’s interest, and when you think about it, countering “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Hanukkah” most likely won’t ignite some giant light bulb in the other person’s brain and make them want to check out Hanukkah. The only summary perception they’ll likely come away with is, “Oh, he doesn’t celebrate Christmas. I do, so whatever ‘floats his boat’!” I don’t think I ever angered anyone with my “Happy Hanukkah” retort, but neither did I find myself involved in a meaningful discussion about why I believe the way I do. Most reactions were something akin to, “Oh, you’re Jewish! I’m sorry if I offended you!” and that’s pretty much where the conversations have ended. Since around 2005, I’ve been countering “Merry Christmas” with “Merry every day!” It’s my way of saying, “I don’t actually celebrate Christmas, but I do wish you a joyous day every day!” I mean, shouldn’t we all wish everyone the best every day, not just a few days a year? Now please don’t get me wrong: I don’t see anything necessarily wrong with countering a “Merry Christmas” wish with “Happy Hanukkah”; in fact, a close friend of mine recently shared that this is precisely what he does while in such venues as airports during the Christmas season, where he has found many different faiths represented, not just Christian and Jewish. He prefers this type of response because although he knows in advance it’s not likely going to strike up any meaningful conversations with others, occasionally he actually runs into a “reform Jew” who soon has second thoughts about his “Merry Should Believers Observe Hanukkah? 5 Christmas” compromise. And when you think about it, paying homage to Christmas is a compromise. We’ll cover that later. So much for my first reason for regretting my “Happy Hanukkah” response to “Merry Christmas”; here’s my second reason: Let’s face it: Wishing everyone you meet “Merry Christmas” is a bit ill-mannered because it assumes everyone out there is just like you. Assuming everyone you meet is just like you and that this in turn means everyone celebrates Christmas is simply poor reasoning at best. Taking it a step further and greeting everyone you meet with “Merry Christmas” borders on rudeness. Society’s coming to grips with this realization is essentially where the generic “Happy Holidays!” greeting originated – out of a desire to not wrongly and inappropriately assume anything about the other person. Of course, even exclaiming, “Happy Holidays” assumes the other person observes any holidays at all, but that’s another topic. For now, I will simply state it occurred to me that if someone is so thoughtless and assuming as to greet me with “Merry Christmas,” isn’t replying with “Happy Hanukkah” treating him or her worse than they treated me? I mean, they essentially just established that they celebrate Christmas, which means they probably have little or no regard for Hanukkah. If I counter with “Happy Hanukkah,” I’m not assuming anything; I already know they have little or no regard for Hanukkah, yet I’m imposing that holiday wish on someone who doesn’t even observe it. In summary, they may have been guilty of wrongly assuming; but replying with “Happy Hanukkah!” may be construed as wrongly imposing. Personally, I don’t want to do that any more than I want to go around generically wishing everyone I meet a “Happy Passover,” “Happy Shavuot” or “Happy Sukkot.” Finally, offering my “Happy Hanukkah” retort as a viable counter-response to “Merry Christmas” apparently created the (false) impression for a few Torah believers that I regard Hanukkah as a substitute for Christmas, as in, “Hey, I miss the fun Christmas celebrations I used to enjoy while growing up, so why not mingle some Christmas celebrations with my newfound Hanukkah observance? Why not put up a Hanukkah bush instead of a Christmas tree, splash my home and lawn with ‘Happy Hanukkah’ lights and ornaments and have eight days of exchanging presents!” Yikes! That’s precisely the impression one man had of me! His impression was a dire misinterpretation of my intentions, which eventually led to a rather unpleasant e-mail exchange. In the interest of addressing and hopefully squelching his concerns, I will incorporate excerpts from our e-mail discussion into this, our 2021 update. Sadly, our exchange revealed an indelibly strong bias, not only against Hanukkah itself, but also against all who observe or have observed it, including the very first ones back in 165 BCE. His bias really needs to be exposed because it’s a misleading and deceptive message he’s shared with other believers, not just me. I can only hope they aren’t naïve enough to adopt his reasoning process. Those who are open to checking out another perspective are welcome to check out mine! Our primary aim in this study is to present to you the truth about Hanukkah, as well as our response to those who have criticized us for observing it. We invite you to not only read our perspective, but to also let us know if you share our vision for how we can best serve our Heavenly Father and His Son. Appended Introduction: “Alternate Festival” Versus “Substitute Festival” It is now 2021, seventeen years after we first shared this study with others. Since then, we have received several heartwarming e-mails and even snail-mail letters from various individuals expressing an understanding of a new perspective of Hanukkah that they previously hadn’t considered. Yes, we’ve also received some negative feedback. One individual, the man I referenced on the preceding page, expressed disagreement in no uncertain terms. After a back-and-forth e-mail exchange, he finally wrote, “We have had the opportunity to exchange our positions. I am not moving from mine and I suspect you will not move from yours. On this subject we do not and will not agree. It is what it is.”1 That’s one way to end a discussion. To the best of my knowledge, the above summary is correct in that his mind has not changed since 2012, nor has mine. Another gentleman expressed his anti-Hanukkah sentiments in his book Torah Calendar. In the chapter titled “Hanukkah Reconsidered,” he summarizes: What shall we say about man-made observances, such as Hanukkah and Purim? As with Christmas and Easter, the first thing we should admit is that these festival days are not commanded by Yahweh: they are commanded by men. Yet Yahweh warns us very clearly not to add anything to His instructions, so that we might live, and be preserved in safety.2 My brief answer to the above commentary is that no one I know regards Hanukkah as an observance “commanded by Yahweh” or even “commanded by men.”3 It’s simply a time of reflection.